Tekken Story: The God of Fighting
by The Cloak
Summary: When his town is attacked by Ogre, a boy named Vincent must take him down. Big shout-out to JunKing for giving me this idea.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

** BIG Shout-out to JunKing for suggesting that I write a story. Thanks.**

--

**Chapter 1: Raid**

Vincent

I ran to my mother's call.

"Vincent, could you help me with these bags."

I picked up a bushel of corn under one arm and a sack of potatoes under the other. I carried them into the house with little effort. After bringing in several more sacks I turned to my mother pleadingly.

"Fine, fine." His mother digressed. "You can go to the dojo."

I whooped and threw my hands in the air before rushing out the door. Even though the village was small, the dojo was pretty far from my house and about a quarter of the way there I met with my best friend, Hwoarang.

"Heading over to the dojo?" Hwoarang asked.

I nodded.

"I'm going there too. Are you ready for the tournament?"

"Definitely." I replied.

"Hey, let's promise to make it to the finals together. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Well then, let's go!" Hwoarang said impatiently and he and I began racing to the dojo.

Hwoarang reached the dojo first and stepped inside just as I ran to the door. We both stepped inside.

"Bow." Our sensei, Baek Doo San, told us. After we had bowed he continued. "Come into the training room- that is where our tournament is being held."

Hwoarang and I followed him into the training room, where the other students were already waiting. They all had their Tae Kwon Do uniforms on - a white gi (fighting uniform) with the Tae Kwon Do symbol on the back (a half blue and half red circle). Personally, my uniform had a green belt and Hwaorang's had a red belt with a black stripe. We got our uniforms on and took our seats in the line.

"Our first sparring match will be…" Baek Doo San said. " Hwoarang against Quim"

Hwoarang and Quim stepped into the middle of the room. They bowed to each other and got into their battle poses.

"Begin."

Quim, a natural aggressor rushed at Hwoarang as soon as the match began. Hwoarang blocked it and punched Quim in the chest. He stumbled, but regained his balance and rushed again. He threw a punch at Hwoarang's face, but he tilted his head to dodge it. Hwoarang kicked him in the stomach. The rest of the match passed on this way with Quim only getting one decent hit on Hwoarang, it was over pretty quickly.

"Hwoarang wins." Baek Doo San said.

That surprised nobody- Hwoarang was the top of the class.

"Next match…" Master Baek continued. "Vincent against Bailey."

Bailey was pretty good, but I was fairly certain that I could take him on. We both stepped in to the middle and bowed to each other. Then we got into our fighting poses.

"Begin." Master Baek said.

Bailey and I, both being the calculating type, circled each other and sized each other up for about ten seconds. Then, I ran at him and kicked for his stomach. He blocked it, grabbed my leg, and threw me to the floor. I got back up quickly and kept my distance. I went to punch for his face, but simultaneously tripped him. He fell on the ground and, before he could get up, I put my foot against his neck. Thinking I had him right where I wanted him I let my guard down. He used his leg to trip me and I fell on top of him. He pushed me off quickly and we both got up. We circled each other for a while until I decided to rush at him. I punched for his face, but kicked his stomach. He clutched his stomach, but recovered quickly. Before he had a chance to attack I punched him in the face and he fell down.

"Vincent wins." Baek said.

The rest of the matches went on and eventually it was down to Hwoarang, a student named Chris, an exchange student named Zack, and me.

" Hwoarang against Chris" Baek called out.

They stepped into the middle of the room, bowed, and prepared to fight.

"Begin."

Hwoarang punched for his gut and then kicked him in the stomach. Chris slowly got back up and ran towards Hwoarang, who sidestepped the attack and punched Chris in the stomach as he ran by. Chris kicked for his legs and tripped him. Hwoarang fell, but got up before Chris could hit him again. Chris punched at his face, but Hwoarang dodged it and gave Chris and uppercut on the chin. Chris went down.

"Hwoarang wins."

"Vincent against Zack."

I didn't know Zack that well. He was an exchange student that just got transferred to this dojo after his previous one went into bankruptcy. He had shoulder-length black hair and deep green eyes.

I stepped into the middle of the room with Zack and bowed, we went into our fighting stances.

"Begin."

Zack immediately rushed at me and punched me in the gut. Then, he kicked me in the stomach and I fell to the ground.

_This guy is fast._ I thought to myself as I was getting back up.

As soon as I got up, Zack was behind me. He kicked me straight onto the floor. I slowly tried to get up, but he put his foot on my back and pushed me to the ground as he gloated above me. I decided to make my move, and I tried to trip him. He fell to the ground. As I waited for him to get back up- trying to appear more mature than him by following the rules-he glared at me and for a second I thought I saw his eyes turn blood red. All of a sudden, he was up and right in front of me. He punched me in the chest and I went stumbling down. He jumped and landed on top of me.

_Is this guy for real?_ I thought.

Then I saw him raise his fist in the air. No way! I was already down and he was going for a finishing blow! I prepared for the worst.

"Zack!" Master Baek yelled.

I opened my eyes. Master Baek was holding back Zack's fist.

"Zack! Explain you actions!" he said.

Zack looked straight at Baek and I saw his eyes turn orange again.

"Shut up, old man!" Zack said, and punched him in the chest.

Master Baek Doo San went flying against the wall. We all just stared as Baek got up and dusted himself off, then got into his fighting position.

"Zack! If you can't explain your actions then I'll have to incapacitate you."

Zack gave a devilish grin. "Call me Ogre." He said in a demonic voice.

Then a green lightning bolt struck down and there was an eruption of green steam. In Zack's place stood a 7-foot tall creature that looked slightly reptilian.

"Everybody run!" Baek said as he prepared to fight Ogre. "I'll deal with this."

We ran. As I stepped outside I saw a green troll-like being about 6 feet tall sprout from out of the ground. My first thought was to run.

_No,_ I thought._ I can't run. I became a fighter to protect my village. This is the time._

I got into my fighting stance and ran at the creature. I did a Roundhouse Kick at its head. I hit my target and the creature stumbled. I jumped in the air and kicked its chest. Then I tried to punch it in the face. This time, however, I missed and it grabbed my arm and dragged me to the ground. It was leaning over me and I saw that it had razor-sharp teeth. All of a sudden I saw it fly to the side.

"Get up, Vincent!" Hwaorang said.

I took his hand and got up. Apparently, the creature wasn't done yet. Hwaorang and I ran at it. I tried to trip it and he tried to kick its stomach. We both hit. Then I punched its face while Hwaorang kneed it in the stomach. Finally, it went down. Suddenly, a feeling of dread hit me.

"Hwaorang!" I shouted. "I have to go check on my mom!"

Hwaorang apparently heard me over the sound of the battle. "I'll check on Master Baek." He said.

We ran in opposite directions. As I neared my house I saw my mother open the door for me. She locked it as soon as I was in.

"Vince, what happened!? The raid started from the direction of the dojo!"

Trying to sort through my thoughts, I said. "I don't know Mom. I…I don't know."

"Vince," She said as she handed me a bag. "I want you to run. Run away."

"What!" I said. "Mom, we don't need to…"

"We're being raided, Vincent!" she yelled sharply.

That forced me to listen. She never yelled before.

"We're being raided. If we don't run, we could die." She said then picked up a bag herself. "Let's go!"

I followed her out the door. As soon as we opened it, one of the trolls burst into our house.

"Get behind me!" I yelled to my mom.

I jumped up and hit its chest. Then I tripped it and it fell.

"C'mon" I said to my mom as I stepped over the creature.

My mother went first, but as I ran out the troll grabbed my ankle and pulled me down.

"Go, mom!" I yelled. She looked grief-stricken, but she knew that I could take care of myself. She ran with a look of sorrow on her face.

I rounded on the troll. It ran at me, slashing with its nails as it passed me. I jumped on its back and slammed my fist onto its head. I jumped off of it and punched it in the stomach. Then, it balled up its hands into fists and punched me in the gut. I got the wind knocked out of me, but got back up and kicked its legs to trip it. When it fell, I continued running. My mom was nowhere to be seen. I ran as fast as I could and found myself facing Hwaorang.

"He's dead, Vincent…" Hwaorang said quietly.

"What?" I asked, not knowing what he was talking about.

His voice rose to a yell. "Baek Doo San is dead!" he shouted.

I froze. Our master. Master Baek was dead. I looked at Hwaorang.

"I'm not gonna let him get away with this!" Hwaorang said quietly, but with his voice filled with hate.

"Who?" I asked quietly.

He had resorted to screaming again. "Ogre! I'm going to kill him!"

Hwaorang ran straight through the entire battle. I couldn't see him anywhere. I ran to the dojo. I saw a few fights going on, but I ran right past them. The door to the dojo had been broken off its hinges and was lying on the ground. I ran inside…and saw Master Baek lying facedown on the ground. I walked over to his body.

Then, another troll tearing down the wall brought me back to my senses. In my rage, I ran toward it and kicked it twice in the stomach and uppercut-ed it in the chin. Before it had a chance to make a move I started swinging my fists wildly. I knew I was swinging blindly, but I didn't care. I was just so angry. I felt a leg cross in front of mine, but I didn't react in time and tripped onto the ground. The troll walked up to my body. All of a sudden, I felt so tired. Master Baek had told me that letting anger consume you was as good as swallowing an entire box of sleeping pills. I was feeling those consequences now. I watched as the troll laid it's hands down on my shoulder and then I blacked out.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Gone**

Vincent

I awoke with a blinding pain in my left shoulder. I pulled up my shirt and looked at it. There was a thick green circle on my shoulder. As I watched, it faded and, eventually, disappeared completely. The pain was gone but I still felt a slight numbness in my left shoulder.

Asleep in the middle of a battle. There was no doubt in my mind that I shouldn't be alive. I finally began looking at my surroundings. I was in the valley that my village was located in, but I didn't see my village at all. As I walked forward I saw the hill that Hwaorang and I used to race down. My village was right on the other side. As I rose over the crest of the hill, I looked at the spot where my village was. What I saw shocked me to the core. It was an empty hillside…except…except there are ashes everywhere. Strewn across the ground, in the air, and some piles that are still burning.

I ran to the location of my former town in fear. There was nobody there. Like all the bodies had just disappeared.

_Or been burned to dust._ A voice in my head said.

"What?" I asked to myself. All of a sudden, there was another flash of pain in my shoulder. I saw myself holding a flaming torch. Then, the image and the pain disappeared together. I got back to the feet, unaware that I had fallen to the ground. I had to get help. The closest inhabited place was a big city. I couldn't remember its name. It was several miles away, but it was my best chance. I started to walk. After walking for a while I decided to lie down. I felt something in my back pocket. I pulled out my journal. I forgot I had this on me. For some reason, I felt like writing in it.

It's been a few hours now. I don't have a clock with me, but judging by the sun, that's my guess. The city has just appeared as a gray speck in the distance. I'm not going to be able to make it there today. 

The message did little to convey my actual feelings. I felt like screaming and crying, but I needed to conserve my energy, so I kept myself in check. Even so, the tiniest of sobs escaped me before I drifted to sleep.

I awoke stiff, but I kept on walking anyway. I had to get to the city. It seemed like hours - and probably was - before I arrived at the city gate.

"State your business." A guard said.

"I'm here to report a raid on my village." I said.

The guard looked genuinely worried for a second, but his emotionless mask covered it quickly.

"Do you have any proof?" the guard asked.

"No. I was the only one that made it here." He said.

"The only one?" he asked, obviously skeptical because of my age.

"I think." I added. "I woke up alone a little ways from my burned village." Tears almost came up, but I pushed them back down.

"I'll report this." The guard said.

"I need to get help now!" I shouted, my emotions getting the best of me.

The guard looked confused, as if stuck between losing his job and losing his morals.

"O…Okay." He said hesitantly. "I'll let you in. Then report it."

He opened the gate and I ran in.

--

Dean

I watched as the kid ran into the city. As soon as I got off of my shift I would report the attack to my boss. I wished I could do more for the kid, but if I lose this job, then I lose my house- and with two kids I couldn't allow that to happen.

"Okay, Dean." I said to myself to ease my conscience. "You're doing your best."

Then I saw a black-haired young man walk up to the gate.

"Let me in." he said.

"What is your business here?" I asked.

He looked at me with deep green eyes and I swear I saw them turn orange for a split-second.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Dean Earwicker." I replied. "Now, state your reason to be here or I will have to apprehend you!"

This time I was sure that I saw his eyes turn orange. "Remember, it was your choice not to open the gate, Dean Earwicker."

All of a sudden, 3 troll-like creatures crawled up out of the ground and surrounded me. They jumped in the air and dogpiled onto me. However, I wasn't made a guard for nothing. I pushed the 6-foot tall beasts off of me and fought back. Then the black-haired boy started fighting and his minions backed off. I punched at his face, but he blocked and grabbed my arm. He tried to wrestle me to the ground. I kicked him in the face and he let go. He hit me in the stomach with amazing speed, and then did an uppercut hitting me squarely in the chin. I kicked him in the chest and he stumbled, but soon recovered. I went for another punch but he ducked out of the way and tripped me. I saw him put his hand on my left shoulder, felt a sting of intense pain, and then blacked out.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: The City**

Vincent

I ran through the gate as soon as he opened it. I looked in the sky- early morning, too early- nothing would be opened yet. I walked off feeling depressed. But I remembered that I can't let my emotions own me, so to take my mind off my village, I started training. At first I was just punching and kicking at air, but then a man came up to me.

"Hey, you're pretty good." He said. "Mind if we spar?"

I sized the man up. He was tall, muscular, and had an insane pillar of dark blonde hair sticking from his head.

"The name's Paul Phoenix- the greatest fighter in the WORLD!" he said smugly.

I raised my hand. "Vincent."

He took it and shook. I bowed to him and we started sparring. He came at me with his fist. I sidestepped it and- for a moment forgetting that he was much stronger than me- grabbed ahold of his arm. Big mistake. He lifted me in the air. It was just a sparring match so, where he would have delivered a fatal blow, he just dropped me on the ground.

"It was a rookie mistake." He said shrugging. "Let's try again."

He swung at me exactly like last time. I dodged it and tried to punch him in the chest. The blow connected, but it didn't look like it actually hurt him much. I went for a kick, but he turned his body and I missed. He swung at me again, this time hitting me square in the chin. I fell on the ground.

He laughed. "You did better that time. You still lost, but you did better."

I got up. As I dusted myself off, I noticed a young man running toward us.

"Jeez, Paul…where have you…been?" he asked, gasping for breath.

"I was just sparring with this kid." He pointed a finger in my direction. "Didn't know you were looking for me, Forrest."

Forrest ignored me and spoke to Paul hurriedly. "Paul…its Dad. He needs help. He's at the restaurant."

Paul immediately started running. Forrest and I followed. We arrived at a nice-looking Chinese Food place. The three of us ran in. I froze. Ogre's minions, the trolls, were wrecking the restaurant. There was a man, which I took to be Forrest's dad because of the similarity, standing over an unconscious one. He turned and began fighting another troll. Paul and Forrest immediately jumped into the fight. I couldn't stand the idea of what happened to my village happening to this huge city. I ran outside to get help, call the police, do anything but watch this city crumble. I tripped and looked back to see a troll's hand sticking out of the ground. It pulled the rest of itself up quickly. I ran at it. It sidestepped my punch and I fell on the ground. I saw more come up around me. They surrounded me and held me down to the ground. One of them lowered its hand down to my let shoulder…

Power ran through me. I could feel it rushing through my veins, body, and soul. It consumed me. I was vaguely aware of an orange film glazing over my eyes. With the power came confidence, I knew I could destroy them, and hate, hate at what they had done to my village. I ran at them- a green aura forming around me. My punch went straight through one of the troll's body. I kicked one in the head and heard the snap of neck vertebrae. One of the stupid ones came rushing at me. I ducked down and elbowed it in the stomach, practically cutting it in half. I looked around. There were no more enemies.

"Alright…fight, fight, fight." I heard a voice behind me say.

I turned. It was Zack. The young man that had turned into Ogre and killed his master. Without hesitation I ran at him. I uppercut-ed him in the chin, punched him in the stomach, kicked him in the face. After my barrage he stood- bruises covering his body and scars running down his face. Then, his eyes turned orange and his voice grew demonic.

"You're going to regret that." He said, still in his demonic voice.

In a flash of green lightning and a cloud of green smoke, a 7-foot tall monster stood before me. With the power I knew I had, I didn't even flinch. I rushed him. Punching him in the stomach and kicking at his face. My punch hit him in the gut, but he caught my kick and threw me straight into a building. I flew straight through three building until I made a complete stop. I was injured, but I made a show of looking unfazed. I dashed toward him and did an uppercut to his chin and then thrust my elbow into his stomach. Both hits connected and he stumbled onto the ground. As I rushed him again he got up and performed an uppercut to my chin. I fell on the ground. I could feel the power receding – the green aura around me disappearing. Ogre walked up to me. He picked me up by the neck.

I heard a vicious growl behind Ogre. I turned my head to see behind Ogre's shoulder. I was startled at the man behind Ogre. He was muscular, not grotesquely buff, but there was definitely muscle there. However, his most fearsome feature by far was that he had the head and tail of a jaguar.

The jaguar-man growled again. "Let go of the kid!" he roared.

Ogre smirked. He threw me to the ground at the jaguar-man's feet. I was too weak to move.

"You remind me of someone I've killed before." Ogre said.

Apparently, that was the last straw for the jaguar-man. He leaped at Ogre and brought both of his feet into Ogre's chest. Ogre stumbled back and tried to punch him. After that I felt a stab of pain in my left shoulder. I looked there and there was a thick green circle on my shoulder- like a tattoo, almost. Slowly, it faded away…and then I blacked out.

--

King

I went all out against Ogre. After Armor King told me that Ogre had killed my adoptive father I was bent on revenge. I actually felt guilty for my feelings of revenge, but they were there and I couldn't get rid of them. As I pushed my fist toward Ogre's face, but he caught it and pulled me toward his horrid face.

"I remember now." He said. "King…been revived have you?"

I roared ferociously. "You don't have the honor to say his name!"

I pulled my legs against my chest and pushed them into Ogre's chest. I escaped his grasp, but he recovered quickly.

"Ah…I see." He said tauntingly. "You're just one of his weakling students looking for revenge."

I ran toward him and punched towards his stomach. He blocked it with his forearm and hit me in the face with his elbow. I fell on the ground. I was about to get back up when he stomped on my back. I was prepared to roll out of the way. As I began my roll his foot came crashing down on my head.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Recruiting**

Ogre

I watched with satisfaction as the new King fell unconscious. Now, I'd easily defeated them both. Well, not so easily with the First King, but this one was pathetic. The boy hadn't been as weak. He'd remembered him from somewhere…Ah; yes…He was the boy that I had fought in the first raid, while I was under the guise of Zack in that ridiculous karate class. Then, one of my minions ran up to me.

"Sir," he said in a raspy voice. "We're having trouble uptown."

This frustrated me. I hadn't expected this city to be full of fighters. "Who is it?" I asked.

"A wrestler named Craig Marduk. He's taken down a dozen of our troops already."

I looked at him. "Anything else, Captain?"

The Captain looked embarrassed and fearful. "Yes sir… A boxer named Steve Fox. He's taking down our troops just as quickly."

Needless to say, I was unhappy. I had expected this city to be easy to conquer – maybe an arrogant idiot acting like a hero here and there – but this city was a true challenge.

The Captain's voice interrupted my thoughts. "Sir…there is another problem."

Now thoroughly frustrated I raised his voice. "What is it, Captain!?"

"We…we have reports from our rear guards that we may be being followed."

I growled – deeply and threateningly. "Captain, either confirm these reports or disprove them. I'll deal with the fighters."

I walked onto the street that the Captain had told me. It was a hotel. Hearing the telltale sounds of fighting, I walked into the parking lot.

I saw a man in an unbuttoned Hawaiian T-shirt. He had light blonde-hair and boxing tape wrapped around his knuckles. He was knocking down my minions with swift, well-placed punches. So, this is Steve Fox. He might come in handy.

I walked up to him and commanded my minions to stand aside.

"So you're the Steve Fox I've heard about?" I asked.

He looked at me, obviously disgusted. "Why don't you get out of this city?" he said raising his fists.

"I'm afraid that's not an option."

He rushed at me and performed an uppercut, which hit me in the chin. His next punch was a left hook meant to hit my chest. I grabbed his fist and placed my hand on his shoulder. Like all the others before him, he screamed in pain and fell to the ground. Eventually he got back up.

"What should I do?" he asked.

"Get rid of the other fighters in this city." I said.

"Got it." He replied before running down the street.

Sometimes it was an extremely useful thing – The Mark of Ogre. It could cloud a person's brain until they bent to his will. Only the strongest escaped its hold on their own.

I began walking to the other side of town. The other location that the Captain had given me was the 'Metro Bar & Grill'. I reached it without incident. As I approached the door, I saw one of my men fall out the door – shards of glass in his head and a broken bottle lying next to him. I walked inside and saw a large brown-skinned man tackle down a troll and toss another one into a table – which broke on impact.

"Craig Marduk." I said, getting his attention.

He looked at me and snarled. Recognizing me as an enemy, he picked up a bottle of beer from behind the bar and threw it at me. It hit me in the chest – the shards cutting the skin and drawing blood. I pulled out the stray shards and looked up to see him running at me. He aimed his fist at my face with his left arm. I stepped out of the way and grabbed it. With the other hand, I bestowed the Mark of Ogre upon his left shoulder. He followed the usual procedure, though it took a little longer for him to pass out. Maybe this city being full of fighters wasn't such a bad thing after all.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: (can't think of a decent name)**

Paul

Marshall, Forrest, and I mopped up the beasts attacking the restaurant and helped a few of the citizens evacuate. Now, Marshall and I were hunting down the trolls while Forrest was helping some man and his wife out of the city.

I thought I spotted one and said. "Hey, Marshall! See that?"

"I see it." He said.

Marshall and I ducked into the alleys and started inching closer.

"What the heck's going on?" I asked.

I looked at the troll walking alone along the road. They weren't usually alone. They hunted in packs. Then, I saw me and Marshall's buddy, Steve Fox. We worked with him in a three-man team once and did pretty well. I tossed a rock over his way to get his attention.

Steve looked over, saw Marshall and me, and started walking towards us.

"What are you doing here?" he asked in a serious tone.

"What do you think we're doing? We're hunting rats." I said jokingly.

"Get out." He said. Stepping out of the alley.

"What are you doing?" I said. "You're gonna blow our cover."

"Steve, what are you doing?" Marshall asked seriously.

"Get out…Now." Steve repeated pulling up his fists into fighting stance.

"Paul." Marshall said to me. "He's not himself. Something happened."

"Ah great." I said sadly and got into my fighting stance. "Steve, you better snap outta this quick."

In answer, Steve ran at us and pushed his fist into my stomach. Marshall kicked him in the face, but Steve just spun around and kept on fighting. I got up and swung at him, hitting him squarely in the cheek. He recovered and sent a right hook to my head. I blocked, but he had jabbed with his other hand and it took me by surprise. I stumbled back. Marshall came up and punched towards Steve's face, squarely connecting with his blow. Then he jumped up and kicked him in the chest. Steve fell down on his back. He jumped back up and left-hooked Marshall in the face – sending him spinning. Then he turned to me and sent a right hook. I blocked it and uppercut-ed. He leaned his face out of the way and did his own uppercut, catching me right on the chin. I couldn't remember Steve being this good- I mean, he was tough, but he couldn't hold off Marshall and me this easily.

"Dad, Paul! I got the family out of the city!" Forrest said as he ran up. Then he saw Steve. "Oh, Hi Steve."

"He's not himself." Marshall said to his son. "He's helping _them_."

Forrest was taken aback. Using this to his advantage, Steve ran at Forrest and sent right hook straight into his face. Marshall ran to help Forrest up. I ran at Steve. I punched him in the stomach and then grabbed him in my arms, so he couldn't move. He began to struggle and actually tried to kick – something Steve would never have done under normal circumstances.

"I'm warning you." He said. "Ogre will have your head."

Marshall turned toward Steve. "Who's Ogre?" he asked seriously.

Steve didn't answer for a while. Then, he stomped his shoes into my leg – causing me to let go, and ran off down the street.

"He got away!" I said incredulously.

"We're not done with him yet." Marshall replied helping Forrest.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: King the Second**

I woke suddenly. I couldn't feel my entire left arm. It had gone numb. I turned my body and saw the jaguar-man lying on his back on the ground. I could see his chest heaving up and down, but he still seemed unconscious. I slowly used my right arm to push myself up. As I got up, I saw the jaguar-man start waking up. He slowly began getting to his feet. He raised his face towards the sky and gave a roar that almost shattered my eardrums.

"RRAAAAAWWRRR!!"

Then he turned around and saw me. All of his anger turned to worry. "Are you alright?"

I nodded my head. Truthfully, I was scared of him, but I was skilled in not letting my feelings show when I wanted to.

"What…are you?" I asked.

"I'm King." He said. "Do you know Ogre?"

He hadn't answered my question, but I decided to answer his. "He…burned down my village." My voice began to swell with emotion and my eyes watered, but I regained control and pulled the tears back in.

King looked genuinely sorry for me. "Do you have a place to stay?"

This man seemed trustworthy, so I answered truthfully. "No, I don't."

King seemed to be debating something. He turned to me. "Do you have any idea where Ogre is."

"No." I answered.

He held out his hand. "We'll look together."

I shook his hand. He had a strong, powerful grip.

"There don't seem to be any of those beasts here." He said.

"You've fought the trolls?" I asked

"They're swarming the city." He answered. "But, there don't seem to be any here."

The thought that this city was going to be destroyed just like my village frightened me. "Ogre's going to pay for this."

"Yeah." King replied solemnly. "He is."

There was definitely sadness in his voice, but I decided not to push him for details.

"Let's go." He said as he began walking down the street.

I followed him silently. I still was a bit afraid of him, but I didn't let it show. He actually seemed pretty nice. I followed him through the winding streets.

"So…" he said, trying to start a conversation. "You aren't from this city are you?"

I felt emotion swell in me. Between all the fighting I forgot why I came to this city in the first place…to get help. "When my village burned down…" I said. "I came here to get help. But, I guess Ogre was right behind me."

King looked at me sadly. "We'll find him." He said and started walking.

It wasn't until we crossed two more streets that we saw a pair of trolls. King stuck his arm out beside him and ran it into a troll's neck – a Clothesline. With the troll on the ground, King backed up and dropped his elbow onto it. I ran at one and kicked it in the stomach, then did a Roundhouse Kick on it. I punched it across the face. It retaliated by striking me with its claws – tossing me a few yards across the ground. King ran at the troll that attacked me and performed a Drop Kick on its chest. I got up and helped King take it down.

"Are you all right?" he asked, looking me up and down for wounds.

"I'm fine." I said. The troll had only scratched me.

We moved on. We moved through the rest of the neighborhood without running into anyone. Then, after moving onto the next section of town. I saw a large, buff man running toward us.

"Craig!" King said.

Craig kept on running.

"Craig!" King said again. "Get over here!"

"Who is he?" I asked.

King looked at me. "He was my tag team partner after my mentor retired."

Craig looked at us. I saw a snarl on his face. He didn't look very friendly at the moment.

"Craig…" King said, noticing the look on his face. "What's wrong?"

All of a sudden, Craig ran at him. He ducked out of the way and punched Craig in the face. Craig backed off, wiping blood of his nose. He ran at King again, this time his fist hitting squarely on King's face. King stumbled back and I ran up and kicked Craig in the stomach. He stumbled about two steps then moved in towards me. I jumped up and kicked him in the chest. He stumbled again, but recovered and grabbed me by the throat.

I heard a vicious growl from behind Craig. Then, King jumped up and grabbed him in a headlock. After about five straight minutes of struggling (and King nearly getting thrown off several times) he wrestled Craig to the ground.

"What are you doing!?" he yelled.

Craig looked up at King with an expression of anger covering his face. With one last push, he threw King off of him. Then he ran at me. I dove between his legs and tried to trip him. Obviously, he was too heavy because his legs didn't even budge. The he turned around and grabbed me by the throat. Slowly, his hand came to rest on my left shoulder.

Suddenly, power came exploding through me. As it had before, with the power, came a natural arrogance. A green aura burst around me making Craig stumble away. I watched as the orange film slowly covered my eyes. I dashed at Craig and punched him in the stomach making him fall to the ground. Taking advantage of him being down, I kicked him on the chin, knocking him over onto his back.

I walked up to him and looked down into his eyes. His anger had turned to disbelief. He was probably thinking, _How did this kid get so much stronger!?_

_I'm not weak anymore,_ I thought as I picked him up by the throat. I raised him in the air and threw him down to the ground. A move I had seen King use on a troll – Chokeslam.

Then, I felt the power fading. It dripped from me, oozing out and crawling away. I was left dazed – slightly wobbling – in the middle of the street. Craig noticed the change and slowly got back up, holding his obviously injured back. He walked up to me and his hand dashed to my throat. He lifted me in the air and performed a Chokeslam – sending waves of pain through my back.

Then, King ran up to Craig and grabbed him from behind…and then I blacked out.

King

I stood in awe as Vincent beat Craig down. I had never seen anyone that powerful in my life. Except once, but I couldn't remember where. Then it struck me. Those glazed-over orange eyes…Ogre. Was this kid somehow using Ogre's power or even…transforming into him. No, I can't let what happened to Zack happen to Vincent. Then I saw Craig get up as Vincent stood in the street – swaying back and forth on his feet. Before I could react, I saw Craig perform a Chokeslam, hurtling Vincent's back into the concrete.

I roared and ran up to Craig. Whatever was happening, this man wasn't Craig any more. I jumped onto his back and took his head in my hands. I tried to pull his head down – to try to force him onto the ground. It worked and he fell down on his back. He slowly got up and ran at me – extending his arm outward – a Clothesline. I ducked under his outstretched arm and grabbed his foot as he was passing by. This man wasn't the Craig that I knew, and I was going to pull out all the stops to take him down.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: **

**Ogre**

I watched as my minions gathered before me.

"Why did you call me back?" Steve Fox said. "I was fighting resistors."

"Don't question me." I said slowly as I walked over to Steve. I placed my hand on the thick green circle – The Mark of Ogre – on his left shoulder.

As soon as my hand touched the mark, he cried out in pain and fell to his knees. He slowly got back up as I returned to the middle of the circle to address my minions.

" Craig Marduk," I said. "There were 2 resistors who I fought down in Business District. They may not be dead. I want you to finish them."

With a snarl, he said, "Yes sir." And walked down the street towards the south.

"Dean!" I said.

"Yes sir?" he asked.

"Secure the southern gate. Make sure no one escapes."

Dean looked hesitant. "Sir…there were two that did escape. There was a man, a woman, and someone helping them. As soon as I saw them, the two ran through the gate nad their helper ran in the other direction."

I snarled. "Make sure nobody else gets out of the city!" I ordered.

He walked away towards the south.

"Steve." I said.

"Yes…sir" he answered as he got back up to his feet.

"We have this city secured. We're moving on."

"Yes sir." He said as he followed me towards the city gate.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: Leaving the City**

Vincent

King stood, facing Craig. They both looked like they had been put through a trash compactor. Bruises covered their bodies. I slowly got to my feet. King looked over Craig's shoulder at me.

"Stay there!" He shouted.

Craig took advantage of King's distraction and punched him in the face. He hit King straight in the eye. King fell to the ground…he got back up slowly. Craig performed an Elbow Drop onto King's back. King got smashed back into the concrete.

No…I couldn't just stand by here and watch King take this punishment. I couldn't allow it.

_But I'm no match for him._ I thought.

_But you could be,_ another voice said.

_What do you mean?_

_Embrace the mark's power._

_What do you mean…the mark?_

_The Mark of Ogre_

And then the voice faded away. I returned to the bitter reality of King lying on the ground beneath Craig's feet. Without hesitation, I ran up to him, dropped down, and, this time using both my arms, managed to trip him. I rolled out of the way just before he hit the ground. Normally, my honor wouldn't let me attack anyone that was on the ground, but Craig was…different. He was probably one of Ogre's cronies, though I don't know why Ogre would trust him. Maybe Craig was being a servant against his will.

Pushing my thoughts away for the moment, I helped King up.

"Thanks Zack." He said.

"What?" I asked confused.

"I mean…Vincent."

"You know…there was a guy in my fighting class named Zack."

King didn't respond to my question. "Let's go." He said.

He walked off without another word. I decided to follow him silently. We jogged through the city, hoping to find any trolls or civilians. I also kept an eye out for Paul. I felt like a jerk, abandoning him and his friends because I was scared. For the moment, I pushed these thoughts down. As King and I cut across a street corner, we saw a pack of five trolls. It was probably too many for us to take – at the same time anyway, so we waited to see what they would do.

"That's strange." King said.

"What?" I asked.

"The direction they're going."

"What do you mean?"

Realizing his mistake King said, "Sorry…I forgot that you're new to this place. They're heading out of the city."

Now I understood what was wrong. They had effectively taken over the city. Why would they retreat now? We silently followed them down the street. They walked to the gate, where I saw Dean letting them through!

_  
Why would he let them through?_ I asked myself.

The voice in my head came back and answered me._ He's one of them._

_What? You mean one of Ogre's minions!_

_Yes._

_But…how?_

My question was left unanswered as the voice receded to the back of my mind. One thing was clear, though. Dean was letting the trolls through and not putting up a fight. Eventually, the last troll walked through the gate.

"Now's our chance to get the guard." King said.

"Right." I replied.

King got up and I followed him. Dean hadn't noticed us so far. We ran up to him. Dean quickly got in a fighting pose and dodged the kick that King had sent at him. I punched at his face, but he dodged it again and went for an uppercut. I tilted my head out of the way, only to see his leg dash into my stomach. I stumbled backward and King ran up and got Dean in a headlock. King tightened is grip until Dean gave up.

"Why did you let them through?" I asked Dean.

"I only do what I'm told to do." Dean said.

"You let me in when you weren't supposed to."

This caught Dean off guard. After a while he replied. "I have a new boss now…one with worse consequences. Consequences that you will soon face."

Dean then elbowed King in the stomach. King didn't even flinch…until Dean used his leg to trip him. King fell to the ground. I chased after Dean, but he easily outran me. King came up behind me.

"This city is gone, Vincent." King said. "We have to leave."

This reminded Vincent of his mother yelling at him to run away during the raid. Tears almost came up, but he choked them down. He had to be strong.

_But, you could be stronger if you relied on me._ The voice resurfaced and said.

I tried to block the voice out of my head…I had had more than enough of my questions to it coming up empty. Tried to push it back down – as I did whenever my emotions came up. In the end, the voice put up a good fight, but I pushed it down. King and I walked past the gate of town and left for somewhere else.


	9. Chapter 9

**This chapter could almost be it's own one-shot but it fits better in this story. This is the story of Hwoarang in the first city of 'Tekken Story: The God of Fighting'**

**Chapter 9: Stalker**

Hwoarang

I jumped from one tree to the next. I'd been trailing Ogre's forces ever since they left my village in ruins. I still didn't know what happened to Vincent.

_Vincent escaped._ I told myself. _He had to…_

I jumped to the next tree. I couldn't lose Ogre. Not after what he did to Baek. I had to avenge my master. I jumped again.

_Where are you going?_ I thought.

For a while now it had just been nothing but this forest. I didn't even know what forest this was. I could be anywhere. I jumped a tree again. This time however, my landing made the tree leaves rustle a bit too much. I saw a rear guard troll look backwards. He lifted his nose to the air.

He turned to the troll standing next to him. "Tell the Captain that we may be being followed."

The guard that the troll had talked to ran out to the front of the group and out of my sight.

Soon we came to a city gate. I saw a guard posted there talking to…Zack…Ogre. I jumped from tree to tree and quickly, I ran out of trees to jump on – I was still pretty far from the city. I jumped several trees to the side and jumped down. Nobody noticed me. I decided to watch what was happening at the gate.

I saw Zack pummeling the guard– a circle of trolls around them. The guard was trying to fight back with little success.

_Poor guy. _I thought.

Then, I saw something that shocked me. Zack placed his hand on the guard's left shoulder and the guard screamed out in pain. Zack and his minions moved in through the gate. Ogre's trolls were on the move again. I jumped back in the tree and continued moving.

Eventually, I made it into the city. As I made my way in, I saw the guard stirring. I stopped and leaned down next to him.

"Hey, you okay?" I asked.

He moved his head a little, but I couldn't decide whether it was a 'yes' or a 'no'.

"Hey, if you can hear me then say something."

All of a sudden, his hand shot up to my throat. I gasped. He looked at me and I saw a look of ferocity in his eyes. He got up, still holding me by the throat. I rose up my legs and kicked him in the chest. He let go and stumbled a few steps. He ran back at me. I ducked under his fist and punched him in the stomach. Then I got up and did a Roundhouse kick on his face. He fell down. Slowly, he got back up.

_He's getting back up._ I thought. _He wasn't made a guard for nothing._

He ran at me. I dodged his punch, but I didn't notice his knee homing in towards me. His knee hit me directly in the stomach and then, he kicked me in the face. I landed on the ground. I could feel blood where his boot had hit me in the face. Were they steel-toed? It sure felt like it. I almost fell unconscious.

_Hwoarang!_ I thought to myself._ You've been tracking Ogre since he burned your village and __**killed**__ your master. You can't give it up now, hear me!_

I slowly got back up and coughed out blood. Definitely steel-toed. I ran at the guard. I faked a punch to his face, and when he leaned his head I kicked him in the chest. Then, I punched him in the face and Roundhouse Kick-ed him in the head. He fell down – unconscious.

I ran past him and into the city. As I ran down the street a hand sprang from the ground. I jumped over it barely in time. The rest of the troll soon sprang up from the ground. I ran up to it, jumped in the air, and kicked it in the chest. Then, I lowered down and tripped it. As it fell, I punched across the face. It fell to the ground. This is getting too easy. All of a sudden, its claw sprang up and swiped me across the face. I flew a few feet back and landed on my back. I got back up and kicked it across the face. This time it went down for good. I felt the blood drip down from the troll's claws. I knew I needed something to block the wound, but I had nothing with me.

I walked through the streets of the city. I was more cautious now after almost tripping over that troll's hand. Then, I heard speaking.

"Sir…there is another problem."

"What is it, Captain!?"

"We…we have reports from our rear guards that we may be being followed."

"Captain, either confirm these reports or disprove them. I'll deal with the fighters."

I slowly peeked out from behind the wall. I saw Ogre, in his monster form, speaking to a troll, apparently the 'Captain'. Then, the Captain walked towards me and Ogre walked the other way. As the Captain walked past me, I ran at him and punched him in the back. Caught by surprise, he fell forward. He got back up and rounded on me. He ran at me and swiped with his claws. I ducked under them and punched him in the groin. He stumbled back, clutching his stomach. Before he recovered I jumped up and hit him with both feet in the chest.

He fell on his back. Vincent had always been bugging me to _have honor_ and not attack people at a disadvantage – such as if they were on their backs on the ground. I figured that maybe I'd try Vincent's method just this once. I waited for him to get up. All of a sudden, he was on his feet and running towards me. Before I could react his claws were slashing across my chest and I flew in the other direction.

_Thanks a lot, Vince!_ I thought_. Man, taking Vince's advice is costing me a lot of blood!_

I jumped back to my feet. The Captain ran at me again. I ducked and grabbed onto his foot. He fell to the ground. This time I decided _not_ to take Vincent's advice and I kicked him in the ribs. All of a sudden, his hand shot out, grabbed my leg and tripped me. We both got to our feet. I ran up and kicked him in the groin. Then, I punched him across the face. He tried to swipe at me, but I jumped out of the way and hit him again. He finally toppled over and his eyes closed.

I turned around and started running the other way – the way Ogre went. As I followed that street, I eventually found a hotel. There were trolls in the parking lot…accompanied by Ogre. I ran to the parking lot. I saw Ogre and the trolls walk away. As I got to the parking lot, I saw a man wearing an unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt. He was lying face-down on the ground. I ran up to him.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

His fist shot up and punched me on the chin. I got up and backed away, getting into my fighting pose. The boxer got up. He ran at me and punched at my face. I tilted my head to the side and kicked him in the stomach. He stumbled back, but came after me again – hitting me in the nose. Then, he punched me in the gut. I was about to get angry and go ballistic on this guy, but he laid his hand on my left shoulder and I felt pain shoot through me. The last thing I saw before passing out was a green circle appear on my shoulder.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: A City in Ruins**

Vincent

King and I watched the city as we walked into the forest. It had lit fire a few minutes ago. Now, about half the city was burning. I could see King's eyes dampen. He looked filled with sorrow.

_Probably the same way I felt when my city burned._ I thought.

Then, the images started making their way in his head again. People screaming. Vincent holding a torch. His village burning to ashes.

_You did it._ The voice in his head said.

_Stop it!_

_You're the one that burned it._

_No I didn't! What are you talking about?_

_The Mark of Ogre…_

_What is it!? Tell Me!_

The voice faded away…

"Is there something wrong?" King asked.

I realized that when all this was going on in my head, I had no idea what my body was doing. I looked down at myself and realized that I was standing at the exact same spot and that King was still walking down the forest trail.

"Are you coming?" he asked.

"Okay." I said slowly and walked up to him.

We moved quickly through the forest trail. Eventually night fell and it got pitch-black.

"We'll camp here." He said, moving several yards to the side of the road.

I walked there with him. We were not prepared to camp out. No tents. No food. No sleeping bags or even mats. So we settled for laying in the grass and looking at the sky.

"So, King…" I asked.

"Yeah?"

"Why do you wear that mask?"

King was silent for a while. I thought he wasn't going to answer but then…

"It…was my father's. I wear it to honor him."

This made me think of my mother. I had never known my father. He went to war long ago. I didn't even know his name.

"King…why did you fight Ogre?"

"He…took away some close people… my father and a…close friend."

I was silent. I didn't really expect him to have an experience that hit so close to home for me. I decided to change the subject.

"Where are we going?"

He looked glad of the change. "We're heading to the orphanage. Armor King is taking care of it when I'm gone."

I didn't know who Armor King was, but I've never been the curious type. Besides, I was so tired all of a sudden, I probably couldn't ask if I tried.


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry. No action in this chapter.**

**Chapter 11: Sleep Talking**

Vincent

I sprang up from the ground – breathing heavily. Another heated debate with the voice inside my head. Sometimes it seemed like a minor annoyance and other times an overwhelming force. I needed some air. Then, I noticed the bump in my back pocket.

_My journal!? I always forget about this thing._

Maybe it would be nice to jot down a message in it:

I've been traveling with King now. The city has burned down. King says that we're heading to an orphanage that he owns. I don't know what to expect – so I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

As always, my journal entry hardly conveyed my true feelings at all. I was nervous about this orphanage. What kind of kids would be there? Would they be friendly? A sudden feeling of exhaustion made me to decide to cancel my jog. I lowered myself back onto the ground. I looked at King. He was moving his mouth as if he was talking. Before I fell asleep I heard the tiniest of whispers escape King's lips:

"Zack…"

--

I sat up on my shoulders, looking at the rising sun. It was bright, so I didn't look for long. I looked next to me and saw that King was gone. Then, I heard the sound of fighting! I immediately got into my fighting pose and inched closer to where the sounds were coming from.

I sighed in relief. It was just King training.

"Good morning!" he said as he noticed I was there.

"Good morning." I returned.

"Now that you're up we can keep on moving."

I nodded. King moved back onto the trail. We kept on walking down the path. There was a long silence until:

"So…what brought you to the city?" King asked.

"My village was burned down. I went to the city to get help."

"Right…" he answered slowly.

Surprising both him and myself I asked him: "Why were you in the city?"

"Well I actually live in the orphanage. I went to the city to enter a wrestling tournament so I could win some money to support my orphanage."

That made sense. We kept on walking – not talking much after that. King was obviously happy to be going home – I could see it on his face. I was nervous, but I was good at keeping my feelings to myself.

"The orphanage isn't far from here." King said.

"Okay." I answered.

It had been a long day of walking. It was now dark, but King and I had kept on walking because of how close King said we were.

All of a sudden, King perked up. "It's just over this hill. We're almost there." He said.

I didn't answer. I was so tired. As soon as we reached this place, I was going to take a _long_ rest. We rose over the crest of the hill – and we saw the orphanage.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: King's Stepson**

Vincent

We approached the orphanage slowly, but as soon as we crossed the hill, I saw a man in a mask like King's step out of the door. His suit had metal armor protecting it and his jaguar mask was black.

King steeped up and the men embraced. "Armor King!"

Armor King looked at him. "So did you get the money?"

King face sank. "That's a long story…right now I'm just glad to be home."

Then, I saw about ten kids run up and form a circle around King. King picked on up (he had brown hair that was died to white at the tips) and hugged him tightly. The boy blushed, but King didn't seem to notice. When King put the boy down his eyes turned to me.

"Vincent…" he said. "Meet my stepson, Peter."

"Hi." Peter said.

I returned his greeting and then King said. "I guess we don't have much room…so I'll bunk with Armor King and you can bunk with Peter, okay."

"Fine." I said.

Peter ran into his room. Followed him there. Surprisingly, just as I opened the door, Peter opened it from the other side. We both crashed to the ground. I looked around at Peter, who was picking up a _huge_ pile of papers. I knelt down and helped him pick one up. It was a painting of a man with bleeding arms and blood dripping to the floor.

Peter looked shocked that I picked it up. "It's not what it looks like…" he said.

"I understand." I answered, interrupting him.

He looked shocked to hear me say this. "R…Really?"

Truthfully, if I had a pad and paper I could draw worse. "Yeah."

Peter sat down on his bed sadly. "King doesn't. He just thinks that this is something he can

solve by buying me ice cream, games, stuff like that. But…my sadness is deeper than that."

--

Peter

I felt ridiculous. I was opening up my feelings to a complete stranger just because he claimed to understand me. But…these feelings had been bottled up for so long…hell, I was so tired of keeping my feelings in that I would probably tell Ogre for God's sake!

So I completely let everything open up and I watched him – expecting him to laugh or look at me with pity (which I hated) – but he didn't. He just stood there and…_listened._ Hell, he didn't even give me the 'Oh, poor guy' look. When I finished pouring my heart out, Vincent got up from his seat on the bed and said:

"I'm going for a walk. Care to join me?"

"Sure."

We stepped out of the orphanage and onto the path that wound through the forest and then back to the orphanage.

I decided to ask a question that had been bothering me for a while. "So…how did you meet my stepdad?"

"I met him in the city." Vincent said simply.

It didn't look like Vincent wanted to supply any more information, but I wanted it. "Okay, well…how did you meet him?"

Vincent looked down at the ground. "He helped me fight against…"

I guess he changed his mind at the last minute not to tell me. Instead he said: "I'm sure King can tell you."

I thought I saw tears come to his eyes, but they were just as quickly gone, as if he was determined to hide his feelings. That was okay. I'd have to ask King later.


	13. Chapter 13

** Now we're switching back to Paul. I couldn't really think of anything else so maybe this will tide you over while I think about Vincent's story.**

**Chapter 13: The Source**

Paul

"Dad!" Forrest yelled. "I found something!"

Marshall and I ran over to the computer where Forrest had been searching the web. I had told him that I saw the one that was ordering all the trolls around and it had cost me a broken arm (I was barely able to run away in time) – luckily he was moving out of the city. The weird thing was that when I described him, Forrest said that he saw something like that in his history book in high school. Things only got weirder when Steve mentioned 'Ogre' and Forrest started swearing that he had heard of that somewhere before. When we returned to the restaurant he immediately went onto the Internet.

"Okay." Forrest said as he began to Read aloud the section: **Ogre was the Aztec 'God of Fighting' and it was the Aztec's belief that they must sacrifice a warrior each year to add to Ogre's army or he would send his army down on them. The ironic part of this is that the more warriors they send, the stronger Ogre's army becomes and the higher risk of them being destroyed was. This kept them in constant fear of him.**

**On another note, through Aztec writings that we have deciphered, the Aztecs believed that the warriors they sent became warriors of Ogre's army through something they called the 'Mark of Ogre'. We still haven't deciphered what this 'Mark' is, but they seemed to believe that it was what Ogre used to control his armies. They also seem to believe that a 'side-effect' of the so-called 'Mark' was that it turned the warriors into hideous beasts and granted them immortality.**

"Who wrote this?" Marshall asked.

Forrest examined the page. "A team of researchers that found a hidden Aztec cave." He said. "It doesn't give any names of the researchers."

"Which means that it just as easily have been made up." Marshall said.

"C'mon Marshall." I said. "It's a lead that's worth checking out."

Marshall was silent for a while. "Okay. We'll follow this 'Ogre' out of town to wherever he's going. There's not much left for us here anyway." He added as he looked out the window to the ruined city.

We walked out of the restaurant and headed toward the forest. Halfway there, we thought that we heard an explosion…when we looked back, the city was burning. Now, there was no turning back.

"It's getting dark. We should set up camp here." Marshall said.

"No argument here." I said as I lay down in the grass.

"Guys, do you hear something?" Forrest asked.

I cocked my ears across the road and I heard…voices.

"So…"

"Yeah?"

"Why…that mask?"

"Father…honor him."

Marshall whispered to everyone. "If there are others here then I think we should move on."

Forrest and I nodded. We didn't want to risk getting in a fight – especially with my broken arm. We put some more distance between the trail and us. The voices faded away. We decided to make camp here.

"Good night." We all said to each other and waited for tomorrow.


	14. Chapter 14

**Okay. This chapter will make almost NO sense at all until I write my...wait for it...PREQUEL! Yaay! But, seriously - you're just gonna have to wait for that before this makes any sense at all.**

**Chapter 14: Zack's Return**

King

I trained against the dummy that we had posted outside. Normally, I'd spar against Armor King or Peter, but Armor King wanted to train by himself, some new training method he thought up (and if it worked he'd probably try it out on Peter and me), and Peter was off taking a walk with Vincent. It was nice that they were getting along.

_Unless they just want to get far enough away so that no one can hear them scream._ King laughed at his own joke.

But they really did seem to get to know each other pretty fast. Maybe they're similar experiences – them both being victims of Ogre.

_I wonder if they know that Ogre has attacked both of them?_ King thought.

Come to think of it, he didn't mention it to either of them. Oh well, they'll figure out eventually. It's strange really – Peter was unique. King had never known **anyone** like him, but Vincent reminded him of Zack so much. Especially their shared sense of honor. Thinking of Zack almost made King tear up, but he had decided long ago that Zack wouldn't want him to mourn his passing.

Just then, King – with his enhanced hearing – heard someone walking up to the orphanage. As they rose over the crest of the hill, he slowly saw his features – straight black hair and deep green eyes.

--

Ogre

Ogre – in the disguise of Zack walked along the forest trail. He had told his trolls to hide (burrow underground) and wait for his orders to attack. As he rose over an especially large hill, he saw a small building nestled in a grassy clearing. There was even a trail spreading around it. It looked disturbingly nice.

Then he saw something that gave even the God of Fighting a shock – King was here. Well, that pathetic student that took King's mask anyway. Then, he realized something else:

_That idiot hasn't seen me in my Zack "disguise" yet._ He thought. _I can trick him good here._

_--_

King

I watched in stunned silence as the boy walked over the crest of the hill with one thing in my mind.

_Zack…is alive._

I saw him run up to me.

"Good morning, King." He said.

I would've laughed at the irony of that statement if I wasn't so shocked to see him.

"How…how are you…alive?" I asked.

"It's a long story. Let's take a walk." He replied.

--

Ogre

This was panning out just as I planned. He believed I was the 'real' Zack brought back to life through all this crap I told him – he must have been either dumb or just really hopeful that I was Zack – hope – it's a fool's dream.

"…and then Arlene used her wish charm to bring me back. It's all because of her that I'm here."

King ate it all up. How Arlene had saved me with her wish charm. It was so easy, just calling upon Zack's memories and spinning it into a convincing story. There was only one plot hole – Vincent. If he saw me, my plan would be ruined. I couldn't allow that to happen.

--

King

I was still wary of Zack. His story seemed convincing. Arlene hadn't used her wish last time that I was with her. Could this really be the Zack that I knew? Even though I had no reason to doubt him, there was still a huge part of me screaming:

_He's a fake…don't believe him…He's here to hurt you…_

But, it was so easy to believe his story. I'd just have to wait and see what happened.


	15. Chapter 15

**A bit confusing, but not as worse as the last chapter. Also, Ogre's height has been changed to 8 feet - after I heard how tall Yao Ming was I did not want Yao to be taller then Ogre.**

**Chapter 15: Revelations**

Vincent

The walk had moved into one of its uneasy silences between Peter and I.

"There's something you're not telling me." I said.

He looked up, surprised. "What?"

"I can see it…you're hiding something. It's your choice whether you tell me or not, but I know that it's there."

Peter's face fell again. "No…if you're going to be staying here then I should tell you about me."

Staying here? The thought hadn't crossed my mind. Then I realized that that's probably why King brought me here in the first place. What would staying here be like? I hadn't even had one night in the place so I couldn't answer my own question.

"I…a few years before, I entered the Iron Fist Tournament."

I didn't know what that was, but I stayed silent. If he didn't answer my question eventually then I'd ask.

"During the tournament…this beast came to me and accidentally put some of its power into my body. It wanted it back so it tried to kill me during the tournament. Eventually, it killed my entire family to get to me. That's how I ended up as King's stepson."

A thought occurred to me but…no that would be too much of a coincidence…but I wanted to know so I asked anyway.

"What was the creature called?"

He seemed hesitant, as if reliving a painful memory. "It was called…Ogre."

I stopped right where I was. Peter noticed and said, "Is something wrong?"

I slowly and painfully recalled my story. "Ogre…burned my village."

Before I could continue, the voice started up again.

_You did it._

_No. You're lying._

_Weak-minded fool. You let him in and you burned it!_

_SHUT UP!_

Finally it listened and receded. Peter had shock written all over his face. "He…he got us both." He said slowly.

Just recovering from the argument in my head, I didn't answer him. We kept on walking in silence – a newfound respect for each other. When we reached the orphanage again, we saw Armor King staring out the window.

"I thought you were training." Peter said.

Armor King didn't reply and stepped outside, heading for the trail that we had just left.

"We should follow him." Peter said.

I followed Peter out the door and we headed over to the trail.

--

Armor King

I know what I saw. Call me crazy, but I swear I saw King walk into the forest with a man that I knew was dead. I had to check. I didn't even stop when I heard Peter and…uh…Vincent, that's it, following me. I ran into the forest and heard King talking to…Zack. No mistaking him. The straight black hair – Check; the deep green eyes – Check. I ran up to them.

King looked around when he heard me coming. "Armor King!"

Zack looked at me with a look of disgust, but it quickly turned to kindness. As if he didn't want to be interrupted, but when he saw it was me, it was okay.

"Zack?" I asked hesitantly.

"The one and only." He answered.

I turned to King. "What's wrong Armor King? It actually all makes sense once you hear his story."

I still wasn't completely convinced. King had always called me too untrusting.

"Come on, Armor. I'm completely sure that he's the Zack we knew." At the end, King gave me a little wink.

I recognized his signal. We'd play it on the kid's every once in a while:

_"Sorry (__**cough**__). I got sick. We're gonna have to cancel (__**cough) **__our trip to the amusement park" **wink**_

It worked every time on the young ones, the older ones caught on eventually, and Peter immediately noticed it. Now I knew that King didn't completely buy "Zack's" story.

Just then, Vincent and Peter burst into the forest behind us.

--

Vincent

I ran onto the forest path. Then…I saw him. King, Armor King, and…Zack. Without hesitation, I ran at him. I punched him in the face, the chest, kicked him in the groin and stomach. After my onslaught he fell to the ground.

When he got up, there was a trickle of blood on the corner of his mouth, but no other injuries. I rushed him again. Then, he was behind me with amazing speed. As I waited for a blow, I heard a thump. I turned around to see that Peter had Roundhouse Kick-ed him across the back of the head. Zack turned to Peter and punched him in the stomach. Zack's next attack however, was blocked by King – who swung at Zack with his other fist.

There was a flash of green lightning and green steam erupted from the ground. We were all temporarily blinded. When the smoke cleared, I saw Ogre – his 8-foot reptilian glory towering over everyone in the forest. Standing next to him was a man I hadn't seen before. He wore an un-buttoned Hawaiian shirt and boxing tape around his knuckles.

King and Armor King immediately attacked Ogre in rage. The boxer came at Peter and me. He swung at me first; I dodged and kicked at his chest. He sidestepped my attack and leaned his head backward as Peter's fist grazed the side of his head. I kicked at his head, but he bent down and Uppercut-ed me straight on the chin.

Peter ran at him and got a decent right hook that sent Steve spinning. He regained his balance and punched at Peter – Peter blocked but didn't see Steve's other fist heading towards his groin. Then, Steve did a left hook that put Peter on the floor.

"Embrace the Mark of Ogre!" Steve said as he walked towards me.

I slowly got up and was knocked down again, this time his punch left me unconscious.


	16. Chapter 16

**This chapter's pretty short, but I like the way it turned out, so I published it as is.**

**Chapter 16: The Choice**

Vincent

My eyes snapped open. I looked around to sum up my surroundings. I was…surprised, to say the least. Everywhere was gray. The color gray as far as the eye could see. I looked down at myself and realized that I was floating in mid-air. Floating horizontally on my back in this dream world of gray. I tried to get to my feet and realized that, just by thinking about it, I had floated to a vertical position. I had no idea where I was but it was definitely the strangest place I'd been in my life.

Then, green smoke descended and when it cleared I saw…myself standing in front of me.

"Embrace the Mark of Ogre." It said.

"What?" I asked.

"You could be strong." The Vincent Replica said.

"Don't listen to him!" a voice behind me said.

I turned around. It was Zack. My fists clenched in anger, but when I tried to attack him, my body wouldn't move.

"Don't listen to him, Vincent!" Zack said.

Then the Vincent Replica spoke up again. "Use the Mark of Ogre and you would be strong enough!"

"You're strong enough already!" Zack yelled. "I know you can defeat Ogre without his power!"

"Come with me." Vincent Replica said. "Use the Mark of Ogre and you can defeat him."

"WHAT IS THE MARK OF OGRE!?" I yelled angrily.

Zack remained silent. The Vincent Replica replied by rolling up his left sleeve to reveal a green circle on his shoulder. In surprise, I lifted mine up too. The Mark was on my shoulder.

"You don't need the Mark's power to take Ogre down!" Zack shouted. "Don't give in Vincent! Don't let him take control, my s…"

Zack had faded away. Evaporated into smoke. The Vincent Replica extended his arm towards me.

"Come with me." He said. "And we can take our revenge."

"Yes." I said. "I can take my revenge."

I took his outstretched hand in mine…and woke up.

I woke up with my back on the ground. The orange film glazed over my eyes. The green aura surrounded me. Power and confidence flowed through me freely. I raised myself to my feet and saw him. With a demonic laugh, I charged at Ogre.

--

**Now, did he make the right choice?**


	17. Chapter 17

**I bring you...the cosequences of Vincent's choice.**

**Chapter 17: The Possessed**

Peter

I fought Steve with all I had. It wasn't enough. He was too fast…too agile. I kicked at his legs and he hopped out of the way. I kicked at his stomach and he stumbled backwards. Finally, a decent hit! Taking advantage of my momentum, I punched him once in the face before he started blocking again. He tried to punch me in the stomach, but I jumped out of the way at the last minute.

Steve tried to punch me again. That's when I noticed his weakness. He hadn't thrown one kick in my entire battle with him, and that left his legs defenseless.

King

Ogre…had taken Zack. When I didn't trust Zack, I expected it maybe to be a thief that somehow knew about Zack. But I never expected this. And so, I fought with all my might to avenge my friend.

Armor King had followed me in without hesitation. He threw a punch at Ogre, which Ogre took fully on the chest (but still only stumbled about 1 step) and Ogre grabbed Armor King and slammed him against a tree. I jumped at Ogre, raising my fist in the air. I hit him squarely across the face – his teeth cutting my knuckles in the process. But, despite the blood, I positioned my self on his chest and hit him again. He grabbed my third punch and threw me down onto the ground. Then, I heard a sound like a two trains colliding together. I looked up…Vincent had punched Ogre across the face and Ogre…had fallen to the ground. I stared at Vincent. His eyes were pure orange and he had a green aura emanating around him.

"My revenge," He said in a **demonic** voice. "Comes now."

Ogre got up. "You use the Mark against me!? How dare you!"

Ogre ran with surprising speed for his size and bulk, but…Vincent was faster. Vincent dashed in and elbowed Ogre in the stomach, then he uppercut-ed Ogre on the chin. Ogre stumbled back and Vincent charged and punched Ogre right in the middle of the face. He stumbled back clutching his face and I realized something. Ogre was bleeding…god, Vincent had Ogre bleed! Vincent dashed at Ogre again, but this time, Ogre grabbed him by the throat and slammed him against a tree.

"Nobody uses the Mark of Ogre against me!" He yelled.

He began pummeling Vincent until the tree he had held him upon snapped. I jumped onto Ogre's back and, using both my hands, slammed Ogre on the top of the head. I began punching him from above again and again, letting rage take over. Ogre was in pain, too. My attacks were working. Then, Vincent jumped up onto Ogre's back, grabbed me by the neck, and threw me onto the ground.

"Revenge is mine!" He shouted.

I stared at him in shock. At first I thought that the aura, the orange eyes, was just Ogre's power that he could unlock somehow…I was wrong. He didn't unlock the power. The power possessed him.

Vincent

I was exacting my revenge at last. The power…it felt good…and it was enough to kill Ogre. Make him pay for all of his sins. Yes, but I couldn't allow somebody else to exact my revenge _for_ me. That would be weak…revenge was mine.

It was with that goal in mind that I threw King off of Ogre. _**He**_ had no right to exact _**my**_ revenge. I pounded Ogre with blow after blow. He was weakening. I could feel the power draining from him. But, despite the fact that I was winning I knew that Ogre was not defenseless.

I jumped off his back and kicked him across the face. He caught my leg and picked me up by my feet…then he slammed me against the ground.

"You should be grateful!" He yelled. "I bestowed the Mark of Ogre upon you and then you use it to attack me!"

I didn't respond. Instead, I raised my legs up against my chest and released them into Ogre's chin. His grip loosened and I slid out of it. I returned to my feet. He charged me. I tried to sidestep, but his claw hit me right in my face.

As he turned around to charge again, I prepared to execute my plan. He charged straight at me, and I dropped underneath him and grabbed his foot. I picked him up and swung him in a circle around me before releasing him and throwing him out of sight.

Peter

I tripped Steve and then, as he was falling, I pushed my fist up against his chin. Then all of a sudden, Steve got up and ran away.

"He ran away?"

Then, I saw Ogre burst through the trees and fly to the other side of the forest. I stood there in shock.

_What could have hit Ogre so hard that he went flying that far?!_

I turned around a tree and saw…Vincent.

Vincent

I walked through the clearing I had created. There was a boy staring at me. Did I know him? It felt like I did, but I wasn't sure. Whether I knew him or not, he was in my way.

"Get out of my way!" I said coldly.

The boy just stared at me. What was his problem? I shoved him down to the ground and walked past him.

When I reached Ogre's body, I grabbed him by the throat and jumped onto a tree branch, still carrying Ogre by the throat. Even though I was standing in a tree, Ogre's feet were only about 2 inches off of the ground.

I put my face up against his. Let my orange eyes be the last thing he saw before he died.

"You burned my village." I said slowly.

Ogre, surprisingly, showed no fear. "You're the one that did it." He said simply.

"**Shut up!**" I said in my demonic voice.

Fed up with him, I threw him straight up into the air. When, he began to fall, I positioned myself so he landed on my fist. He landed on his back straight onto my fist. At first, all I saw on his face was pain…but then…a smile.

"I'll show you my true power." He said coldly.


	18. Chapter 18

** I've never actually seen True Ogre, so if my made-up description is completely wrong, forgive me.**

**Chapter 18: True Ogre**

Armor King

I watched as Vincent threw King to the ground. I growled deeply. I recognized Vincent's eerie power. It wasn't just any power he was dealing with – it was Ogre's power. And it was possessing him. King fell to the ground.

"There's something wrong with Vincent." King said. "He's being possessed by Ogre's power."

"I know." I said. "But, there's nothing we can do but hope he snaps out of it."

King looked down. Then, I saw Vincent throw Ogre through the trees and run after him.

"Let's follow him." I said as King and I ran after him.

We picked up Peter along the way and when we saw Vincent deal the finishing blow to Ogre we were shocked! But then…Ogre smiled.

"I'll show you my true power." He said coldly.

--

Vincent

I watched Ogre fall on the ground, still smiling through broken teeth. He had something planned…I didn't care. No matter what he threw out I'd still beat him down.

There was a flash and green lightning showered over Ogre. Green steam erupted like a volcano. When, the smoke cleared – a 9-foot tall monster with spikes lining his back stood before me.

"Get ready to die." He said.

I ran at him, prepared to kill. As I sent my punch toward his face, he grabbed my fist and hit me in the stomach. I stumbled back, surprised.

"Meet True Ogre!" He yelled.

Seeing that I was in trouble someone came up to help. E wore a black jaguar mask and armor around his suit. I definitely didn't know him. He ran up to Ogre – no, True Ogre.

I grabbed him by the throat.

"Don't interfere!" I yelled. "Revenge is mine!"

I slammed him onto a nearby tree then threw him behind me. No one would get in my way to revenge.

--

Peter

I saw Vincent pick Armor King up by the throat and slam him onto a tree. He threw him away afterwards. There was something wrong. Was Ogre controlling him? If he was, then why would they be fighting?

I thought of these questions and had absolutely no answers. Then, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. I saw Steve Fox running into the forest. What was he doing? I quietly followed him into the trees.

I quietly stalked him through the forest until… we reached a spot where three men were lying in the grass.

--

King

I looked at Ogre in awe. He was even more powerful than he had been before. Then, I saw Vincent…did he have enough to handle True Ogre.

"I'm going to help him." Armor King said, after True Ogre punched Vincent in the stomach.

Armor King ran up…and then Vincent grabbed him by the throat.

"Don't interfere!" he yelled. "Revenge is mine!"

Then, Vincent slammed Armor King against a tree and threw him back.

"The powers are getting a tighter hold on him." Armor King said slowly. "If this keeps up, he could be a bigger threat than Ogre."

"How do we snap him out of it?" I asked.

"I have a plan." He said. "We wait until he beats True Ogre, then we both fight to knock him unconscious and deactivate the power."

Then a thought struck me – what if he didn't beat Ogre?

As if he was reading my thoughts Armor King added, "If Vincent loses…You, Peter, and I will have to fight True Ogre ourselves."

"Wait a minute…where is Peter?" I asked.

Armor King looked around and growled deeply. "Then it's down to us."


	19. Chapter 19

**I know this chapter kind of ends suddenly - sorry! P.S. sorry that I can't seem to find a preffered chapter length, I know that some are decent-sized and others are tiny.**

**Chapter 19: New Orders**

Steve Fox

The kid did a hard uppercut against my chin as I was falling. I slowly got back up, prepared to go all out, but then Ogre's voice came to me:

_**  
We're being followed. I'll handle these ones – go after the others.**_

I cut the battle short and ran away. I ran through a clearing where I saw Ogre transforming. I took advantage of the distraction and slipped behind them without them noticing. I saw the silhouette of three men lying down in the grass – my targets. Then, as I approached them I heard somebody talk to me.

"Hey, you going after them too?" the person behind me asked.

I spun around – there was nobody there.

"Hey…up here!" the voice said.

I looked up in a tree and saw the newest recruit of Ogre's army – Hwoarang.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Following these three." He answered. "It's entertaining watching them uncover the mystery of the Mark of Ogre."

"I was told to get them." I said.

Then, we were both surprised by a boy run into the trees behind us. I think I heard one of the others call him…Peter.

He dropped down into a fighting stance. I got into mine too. Hwoarang laughed and then jumped down from the tree.

"Why don't we remind you how tough the crowd you're dealing with really is?" Hwoarang said.

Peter punched for Hwoarang's face. He tilted his head out of the way and kicked Peter in the stomach. I followed up by punching him in the face afterwards. Peter got back up slowly. Hwoarang ran at him and kicked at his head – Peter dodged the blow and sent a punch for his stomach. Peter hit his mark and Hwoarang went stumbling back.

I ran up to Peter and punched him in the stomach. Then, I went to uppercut him but he jumped out of the way. Hwoarang jumped in the air and flew at Peter, but he dodged the kick and got back into his fighting stance.

--

Marshall Law

I was awake long before anyone else. Paul and Forrest lay beside me in the grass. Having finished my meditation, I decided to train. I practiced my flips by walking up a tree. Training always brought me pleasure. However, not long after I began my training I heard voices…they were close…too close.

"Hey…up here!

"What are you doing here?"

"Following these three. It's enter-"

I stopped listening then and there and woke up Forrest and Paul.

"W…what's up?" Paul said tiredly.

"We're being followed."

Immediately Paul and Forrest snapped awake.

"They're not very far - too close to sneak away from. I'm going to go check it out."

They nodded as I crept into the bushes. I slowly peeked through and saw three men standing in the forest. One of them was Steve, another had with red hair, and one with brown hair that was dyed whit at the tips.

The red-haired one said. "Why don't we remind you how tough the crowd you're dealing with really is?"

Then, they started to fight. I didn't know the circumstances, but it was obvious that Steve and the redhead were double-teaming the brown haired one. I knew that Steve was in control of Ogre so I assumed that the brown-haired one was a resistor.

I came back to Forrest and Paul. "It's Steve. He and another one of Ogre's minions are fighting a man."

"Well, then we should help the guy, right?" Paul said.

"Okay." I agreed. "Let's go."

We all moved to the bushes. I saw the brown-haired one dodge a flying kick from the redhead and then we jumped into the fight.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20: Defeat**

Vincent

Those idiots had finally learned to stay out of my way, as they just watched the battle now. I kicked at True Ogre's stomach, but he grabbed my leg and threw me against a tree. Then, he utterly surprised me…he blew fire from his mouth. I rolled sideways and his flames hit the tree I had been on. Like fire tended to do, the flames began to spread from one tree to the other.

Forget the fire…this mattered more than that. I ran at Ogre again and punched at his stomach, he took the hit and stumbled back, I punched again, but he grabbed my fist and slammed me against the ground. Then, he placed his foot on my body, so I couldn't get up.

My rage began to build…It wasn't supposed to be this way…I was supposed to take my revenge and…and instead, he was winning. Slowly, but surely I found the weight getting to me…No, I couldn't black out; couldn't accept defeat. But slowly, the darkness surrounded my field of vision.

"I told you so." A voice said to me.

I lay on the hard ground.

"Get up." Another voice said.

I slowly picked myself up. There, standing in their familiar spots, were the Vincent Replica and Zack. Only now, instead of a gray abyss, we stood in a grassy field that was heavy with mist.

"Vincent…I don't know what to say…" Zack said quietly.

The Vincent Replica had other ideas. "Rejoin with me. We were winning before, we can do it again!"

"You disappointed me, Vincent." Zack said. "I expected better of you."

"Listen to me!" the Replica said. "You want power?! You want revenge?! I'm the only way you can get it."

"Vincent," Zack said slowly. "Don't make the same mistake."

Both of them extended their hands toward me.

"Stop…" I said. "Both of you…I don't know who to believe anymore."

"Trust me." Zack said.

"Come with me!" The Vincent Replica replied.

"Stop…" I repeated. "I said STOP!!"

Then, both figures faded away and the world went black again.

King

I watched Vincent go unconscious, his aura faded, his eyes returned to normal, and then he stopped moving. I was about to run to him, when Armor King shouted at me.

"King! The Orphanage!" He yelled.

I followed his arm, which was pointing out, and saw Ogre shoot a fireball through the wall – lighting it on fire. I felt a shiver of horror run through me…and then ran full-throttle towards the orphanage.

At that moment, I had no coherent thoughts. My mind and heart were competing with each other – my heart wanted to kill Ogre with a vengeance. My brain knew that I had to save the children. Ignoring Ogre walking away, I ran into the burning building. As I had ran, most of the kids I saw has gotten away.

I knew all of their faces, and there was only one I hadn't seen running – John. I scrambled through the house and heard screams radiating from upstairs. I bolted up the stairs and into John's room.

I saw John, lying on the ground, screaming. I picked him up and jumped out the window. My legs hit the ground hard, but I had trained for something like this, so I was able to keep on walking. I put John down and turned around. My eyes watered with the tears of my burning orphanage.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21: New Allies**

Peter

It was embarrassing. We had to run. In the end, Forrest was knocked out by Steve and we were forced to retreat.

"So, what is your name?" The Chinese man, who had introduced himself as Marshall Law, asked.

"My name's Peter Colon." I answered.

"So why were ya chasing Steve?" Paul Phoenix asked.

"He…was with Ogre when he attacked."

Marshall sighed and Paul shook his head. "What? Did you know him?"

"Yeah." Paul said. "He was in on a three man team with us. He was a pretty nice guy before all this."

I saw why they looked so sad now. So far, I hadn't lost anyone to the Mark of Ogre. I couldn't imagine losing King. He always seemed so strong, so unbreakable – even when Julia and I found him in that bar right before our second tour…No. Forget the past. Move on…at least try to.

After Forrest woke up we kept moving on through the forest. I told them that I was trying to find an orphanage nearby – they said they hadn't heard of it. While I was chasing Steve, I lost the sense of which direction I was moving in.

I had to find King. Find out what happened to Ogre. Then, maybe I'd have another chance at fighting him.

My thoughts were interrupted by Marshall's voice. "It's getting dark."

No. It couldn't have gotten dark _that_ fast! I looked to the sky and indeed, the sun was only a sliver quickly passing below the horizon.

"We should set up camp." Marshall said.

"But…we don't even know if we're close to the orphanage." I protested.

"We can't see in the dark." Marshall said. "It's no use."

I sighed and sat down. Marshall and Forrest were meditating nearby. Paul had decided to go train. Nothing else to do, I decided to go with him.

"So, you wanna train with the big boys, huh?" Paul said smugly.

I lowered into his fighting pose. Paul smiled. I ran at him and kicked for his stomach. Paul side-stepped and tried to grab my leg. I was too fast for him. I pulled my leg back and kicked down at his leg. He almost tripped, but his body mass was apparently too heavy for my skinny leg to conquer. He stayed up and punched me in the stomach.

I stumbled back and was ready to keep fighting when he said. "Hey, it's almost midnight."

"Huh?" I asked from the sudden interruption. I tended to get tunnel vision when I fought – thus I was completely oblivious to the outside world.

I looked around me and realized that the moon was straight up in the air, staring down at me…midnight – crap. A fighter should never stay up that late unless there's a reason. King had always taught him to reserve as much strength as possible for when he needed it.

I walked back to where Forrest was asleep and Marshall was still meditating. I lay down in the soft grass…so quiet, so peaceful.

It would be one of the last moments I felt peace for a long time…


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22: Waking**

Vincent

How long had it been? I had no idea, I had been unconscious and…Ogre…Ogre got away. As soon as I thought the name I felt a massive migraine that made me scream in pain!

"AHHH!!" I could hardly register it. I knew it was me screaming, but it sounded far away…somehow distant…

I tried to get up, but fell back down to my knees, and then…the migraine slowly went away. Th- The haze was clearing, I was starting to remember bits and pieces. Beating Ogre. Ogre's Transformation. Losing the Battle.

_God, I lost!_ I thought. _Everything was depending on me and I lost!_

I couldn't believe it…I was **winning!** I was winning, but in the end he beat me. I cried out, this time not in pain, but in grief. I _had_ lost and now I _was _lost. Getting revenge was all I thought about ever since the raid…and now that was taken away.

The raid…it seemed so long ago. Seemed like eons, but…how long had it actually been? A few days? A week maybe? My sense of time was terrible. Just another flaw to add to my lis-

I was snapped out of my thoughts by footsteps. All of a sudden, I saw someone running towards me.

Julia

"Okay, so what do you think did this?" I asked my top adviser, Max.

"Well Julia, the way I see it, it has to be either a natural forest fire or arson, and since there aren't any lightning storms this time of year, somebody must've burned this." Max said.

I frowned in disgust…arsonists…why would anybody do something like burn down a forest? Didn't they realize that trees supplied their air? Their life depended on them?! Some people were just too ignorant to pick up a book and find that ou-

My thoughts were snapped into reality when I heard a scream…a scream of somebody in pain.

_Oh God! That might be a victim!…or it might be the arsonist._

Ignoring Max, I ran into the forest – the part that had been spared of the fire – and sought out the direction of the scream. I heard another yell to the west and ran to it.

I found a young man, probably my age, on his knees…crying.

--

Vincent

The person I saw was a girl. A girl most likely about my age. She was beautiful…just her being here seemed to lighten my mood somehow.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

I couldn't answer. My throat was raw from waking up after who knows how long and then screaming my heart out.

She may have taken my silence as guilt because she then asked. "Were you the one who started the fire?"

No. No, it wasn't me! But I couldn't speak. Just opening my mouth hurt like hell. I shook my head.

She obviously didn't believe me, but she acted like she did.

"Okay, I'll take you back to the camp. You can recover there, and then tell us everything."

She put slight emphasis on the word "everything". As if, she expected me to tell her every gruesome detail of how I started the fire.

_Too bad, lady. Cause I didn't start it._ I thought defiantly.

But now wasn't the time to argue. Now was the time to sleep. And when she lowered me onto a make-shift bunk, I watched her walk away…and slept.

Julia

I lay him down on Max's bunk. Max wouldn't mind – he was always willing to give up everything for a good cause. That's why he was one of her best friends. I walked away and towards Max.

"I'm a little confused, Julia." He said. "You go running off and then come back holding some random guy in your arms."

I snickered. Max could make the most innocent things seem strange.

"That man was either a victim or the starter of the fire." I answered.

A look of understanding went over his face. "Ok, now I get it. So, which do you think he is?"

"Personally, I think he was a victim. He was in the unburned part of the forest. He couldn't have started the fire from there."

"Good point." Max said. "Of course, he could have just been burned and then ran there to hide."

"That's the strange thing, Max," I said. "Those injuries…they weren't burns. He had gashes and bruises covering his entire body, but no burns."

Max looked troubled t first, but then he said, "We'll just get him to talk once he wakes up. Then, we'll know what happens."

That was another one of Max's traits – Honesty. He always assumed everyone would tell the truth.

"Hey, Julia. It's getting dark." He said. "I'll go pitch the spare tent and sleep in there."

"Okay, Max" I said. Come to think of it, I was pretty tired too.

Vincent

I woke suddenly. Nightmares had coursed through my head all night. I had to remind myself that I was safe here, at least for now. Suddenly, I realized that I was in a large tent. Tent wasn't the right word exactly. It was more like a giant tent frame with a huge tarp hung over it. I sat up – it hurt my stomach but I did it anyway.

I scanned the whole room, it was dark, but there was a dim light bulb that somebody forgot to turn off. I looked and saw, clear on the other side of the tent, the woman who had saved me sleeping peacefully. Just seeing her made me…happy? Maybe, but a lot less gloomy than I've been since.

And then, understanding flashed across my face. Could I have feelings for her? This lady I_ just met?!_ No, there was no time for anything like that. I had to find Ogre. I had to find my revenge.

Then, the voice in my head started up once more.

_You're sick. You're thinking about this girl, when the beast that killed your family is loose!_ It yelled to me.

I immediately recognized the voice. It was the Vincent Replica I had seen in my dreams.

I yelled back at it. _YOU tried to make me embrace Ogre's power! Why would I listen to you!_

The voice – Vincent Replica's voice – laughed. A cold laugh that seemed to strike Vincent to the core.

_Ogre's power helped you, though._ He said. _You could have killed him if he hadn't of transformed._

Its words were _so true_. I hated it. It always seemed right, even when it was morally wrong. I had to stop it somehow. But it was stuck in my head. It words echoing throughout my body. I fell off of my makeshift bed. It hurt my already sore legs, but I ignored it. I ran outside into the burnt-out forest and fell to my knees. The voice had finally faded.

It was like a spirit – constantly haunting me. Pushing me away from what was right. And tonight it had come on stronger than ever before. When would it stop? A hint of light sparked through the air beside me. I looked to my side and saw a sliver of the sun coming up.

I watched sadly as the sun rose over the crest of the hill…


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23: Reunion**

Peter

We woke up bright and early – which sucked because I went to sleep at about midnight. Marshall somehow kept his composure, but Paul and I were visibly exhausted.

"How long did you guys train last night anyway?" Forrest asked.

We didn't answer. If it was possible to recognize trees, I felt as if I recognized these ones.

_Maybe we're getting close to the orphanage!_ That thought raised my spirits. Then, we crossed some sort of borderline, between forest and burnt forest. I was so tired I guess I didn't notice this when we were walking up!

No! If the forest was burned then…could the orphanage be too?!

_Calm down! You're getting ahead of yourself! The orphanage could be on the other side of the forest for all you know!_

All of a sudden, I heard a voice.

"Oh my gosh, bring him in." It said.

Hey, I kinda recognized that voice. I moved toward it.

"Peter, what are you doing?" Marshall asked.

"I recognized that voice." I said as I ran towards it.

The others followed me. As we ran, I saw a large campsite come into view. And I saw Julia.

"Julia!" I said as I walked out of the burnt forest.

She looked around surprised and then saw me. "Peter! What are you doing here?"

"I have no idea. Supposedly, King's orphanage is nearby."

She laughed as we hugged each other. When we separated she said. "Peter, the orphanage is pretty far from here. Otherwise, I would have visited after my work was done."

"Hmm…how far?"

She pointed to the other side of camp. "About the other side of the forest."

I frowned, but it only lasted a little while. "Well, it's great to see you. If the orphanage is that far then we'll have to stay here."

"Well, we do have some extra tents."

"That's perfect!" I said. "How many?"

"Two. You guys will have to have two people in each tent."

I realized that the others were standing right beside me. Cursing my own stupidity, I said "Oh! I almost forgot! Marshall, Paul, Forrest – this is Julia, my girlfriend. Julia, this is Marshall, Paul, and Forrest."

"Pleased to meet you." Julia said politely.

"Well, you guys can go and get the tents. I wanna talk with Julia some more." I said as they walked towards the tents that were being pitched.

"So, what's been going on lately?" I asked her.

"Well," She said. "I think we found the arsonist that burned down the forest."

"What?!" I asked. I remembered seeing Ogre – no, True Ogre – blow fire out his mouth.

"You've got the wrong guy!" I said. "Ogre did it!"

She gasped. "Oh my god…I better go fix this."

"I'll come with you." I said at once. It had been so long since I saw her, I wanted to spend every minute I had by her side.

We both walked over to the second largest tent.

"He's still asleep." She said after peering in.

"Can I see him?" I said.

"Sure."

I put my head into the tent and…

"Vincent!" I yelled.

His eyes opened slowly as he looked towards the door. "Peter!"

Vincent

I got off the bed and stared at Peter. He looked tired. He had a few bruises on him. It must've been from the fight with Ogre.

Peter turned around and yelled at Julia. "He's the guy you thought burned down the forest?!"

Julia looked hurt, but it only lasted a moment. "I found him in the forest. For all I knew, he could've done it!"

Seeing the hurt look on Julia's face he said. "Oh…sorry for yelling, Julia"

"It's fine." Julia said.

These two must know each other. I didn't know much about Peter at all, come to think of it. Was Julia his sister? Peter returned his attention to me.

Peter

I stuck out my hand. "Hey, Vincent. How ya doing?" God that was stupid! He had bruises all over him, how do you think he's doing?!

Vincent shook my hand without answering. There was a long awkward silence. Jeez, neither of us really had anything to say, I guess. Well, I mean, we've both lost loved ones – we _understand_ each other, but we didn't quite know what to think of each other yet.

"Y'know, we're having breakfast in a couple minutes." Julia said, breaking the silence. "I'll have to get everything ready."

Julia walked away. Vincent sat down on the bed. I couldn't really start a conversation…Ugh, why was it so hard for me to be sociable?!

Vincent

Why was Peter so hard to talk to?! Vincent had never had any problems talking to other people. Maybe it was because they both experienced loss, and everything else took a back seat to that. Well, almost everything – I did have one question to ask.

"How do you know Julia?" I asked.

It was so out of the blue that my voice visibly startled him.

"She's my girlfriend." He said after recovering.

Dang, well there goes _that_ possibility. I hope he didn't notice me looking at her. Was Peter the type of guy to beat up somebody for that? Oh well, the next question was more important, anyway.

"Do…do you know where Ogre is?"

"No, I don't. We've been looking for him."

"We?"

"Yeah, I met up with a couple of guys named Paul, Marshall, and Forrest. They've been helping me."

No way. It would just be too much of a coincidence. "What did they look like?"

"Paul has tall blonde hair, and both Marshall and Forrest have short black hair."

Apparently, it wouldn't be too much of a coincidence.

"I met them on my first day in the city."

"Wow! That's a coincidence."

I nodded. It looked like Peter was about to ask another question when Max came in. "Hey guys, Breakfast is ready."

We both walked over to the largest tent. There were about 8 other people there, including Julia. We took the two empty seats – Peter sat next to Julia and I sat across from them. It felt uncomfortable as soon as Peter put his arm around her. I excused myself and went training.

While I was in the forest training, my mind began to wander. Why had just seeing them together made me uneasy? When did it even become important to me? I remembered what the voice had said. Maybe it would be better to just forget about her and focus on Ogre. Focus on revenge. No, I'd learned my lesson. That was the Mark of Ogre talking!

Either way, things were bound to get complicated. If only things were simple. I wish I could just get rid of the problem. Run away from it. But no, honor was important over everything else and running was not in my code of honor.

_Am I allowed to have revenge and have a life?_ I wondered.

I continued to ponder that question even as I stopped to rest. As I leaned against a tree, deep in thought, I saw a figure moving towards me. It was Peter. Was I ready to talk to him about this?


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24: The Manji Clan**

Vincent

Yes. I had to talk to Peter. If I wanted to keep what little resemblance of a friendship we had, I needed to tell him. Of course, it could also break it, but I still felt like he needed to know the truth.

"Look." I started. "Peter, about Julia…"

"Yeah." He said. "What is it?"

I didn't quite know how to answer. I was silent for a little while and then…I heard a buzzing sound nearby.

"Wait a minute!" Peter said suddenly. "Do you hear that?"

We sprang to our feet in the same instant and turned around. There was nothing I could see that was making the noise.

"Let's go check the campsite!" Peter said as he sped away.

I ran after him in the direction of the camp. The buzzing got louder as we moved on. As I ran from out of the tree line, I saw what was happening. There were…things in the camp. Peter immediately ran up through the camp towards them. I followed and saw Julia and Max talking to the apparent leader.

He was a sight to behold. Long, insect-like wings and a skeleton face. When he turned a glint caught my eye and I noticed the sword he carried, sheathed on his waist. He had a band of others behind him. None of them looked the same and none of them looked human.

"Peter, Vincent." Julia said. "This is Yoshimitsu and the…" She trailed off.

"Manji Clan." The creature finished. It had a deep, scratchy voice that made it sound inhuman.

Julia nodded. I cautiously outstretched my hand. Ignoring me, Yoshimitsu turned back to Julia.

"Our camp was just burned in the fire." Yoshimitsu said. "We saw this camp and were wondering if we could stay until we are ready to move on."

"Of course we'd let you." Julia said. "But we don't have any tents to spare."

"We can sleep outside." Yoshimitsu said. "It will only be for a short time."

"Okay." Julia said.

Yoshimitsu turned to one of the others in his group, one wearing a cat-like mask over their face, and said, "Kunimitsu, you and the others find a spot to camp. I will return to our camp to scrounge up more supplies."

"Yes sir." Kunimitsu said in a feminine voice.

Yoshimitsu turned around and began to walk back into the forest, while Kunimitsu and the others began to circle the camp, apparently looking for the right spot. I was curious about these new people…they seemed so strange. They looked almost as strange as the trolls that Ogre sent out to do his bidding. I saw Julia talking to Max and walked over to her.

"Hey Julia?" I asked.

She turned around. "Oh, Hi Vincent. What is it?"

"Have you ever heard of The Manji Clan before this?" I asked her.

She paused for a while. "No, I haven't. It's very strange, they said they have their old campsite here, but I've been to this forest before and I've never heard of them."

So Julia has been here before and she's never heard of them…" Do you think they might be lying?" I asked her.

"The thought crossed my mind…" She said. "I don't exactly know what they want with us if they are lying...I'd be careful anyway"

"Everything here is yours. You should be the careful one. They might be thieves." I said.

"Good point…I have all my research here. It'd take a long time to get it all back." She said thoughtfully.

"Yeah. So be careful about trusting these guys, ok?"

She smiled at me. "I will. Why are you so concerned anyway? We just picked you up in the forest, it's not like you're part of the project here." She looked genuinely curious.

Thinking back, I really didn't know her at all. Why did I care so much about her project? "I…just don't like seeing people get wronged by others." I answered.

"Well, that's quite an honor system you have." She teased. "Well, it's getting dark…you should get some sleep."

I looked to the sky. The sun was steadily sinking below the horizon. I said goodbye to Julia and retreated to my tent. I lay in my bunk thinking. My answer had been truthful, but I could tell it was only part of the truth…Why did I care so much about her project?


	25. Chapter 25

**My computer recently stopped working, so I bought a used laptop. It's a bit higher quality than my old comp, but I lost all my old info. Including all I had written before and my brainstorming for the next 2 sequels and the prequel. LOL I think I might've planned the quantity of this series a bit beyond my ability level, but whatever I'm gonna try for it anyway.**

Yoshimitsu

Everything was going according to plan. They didn't suspect us at all. They might not completely trust us, but atleast they didn't suspect us.

"Master?" Kunimitsu said as she appeared behind me.

"Yes, Kunimitsu?" I asked.

"Everyone is asleep. The woman was the last. She conveniently chose tonight to work late."

"It doesn't matter. We can finish our job before the sun rises." I reassured her. "Mobilize the rest of the clan."

She silently disappeared behind me. It was a shame really. These people had a noble cause, but the well-being of the Manji Clan was by far the most important factor. The majority of the former clan had abandoned us in favor of an alliance with the Mishima Zaibatsu, because of the lack of funds we'd been receiving. I was desperate to avoid that happening with my last, most loyal comrades.

Vincent

I woke suddenly. I had no idea why, I hadn't had a nightmare (for the first night in days). I looked around me. My bunk was in the largest tent and there were 5 other beds in here, all occupied by Julia's assistants. All sound asleep...so what had woken me?

I rose from my bed. Two things happened simultaneously. The second I stepped outside I heard the sound of metal scraping and saw a blur of steel flash in front of me. I gasped in shock at the blade hovering inches from my face.

I turned and saw the eerie skull-like face of Yoshimitsu reflected in the moonlight.

"Silence." He uttered the single word under his breath.

I wasn't about to disobey with a sword at my neck. Convinced that I wouldn't be a nuisance, he cautiously re-sheathed his sword and stepped into the tent. I silently followed him with my eyes. I had warned Julia he might be a thief. It appeared as though he was about to prove my judgment. I was slightly surprised to realize that I didn't care. I had been evaluating why I cared about her little project, and realized that it truly wasn't that vital in the larger scheme of things. Julia could study trees all she wanted, Ogre would still burn them down. Yoshimitsu could steal all the money he wanted, Ogre was the one stealing lives. Ogre was all that mattered.

"Have you ever heard of Ogre?" I murmured, not loud enough to wake anyone but I knew he would hear me.

Yoshimitsu

The name struck a chord in me. Perhaps the only chord I still had left to strike. The one man who had ever bested me in battle.

"What is he to you?" I asked.

"I'm hunting him down...for revenge."

His voice was void of emotion. I slowly turned. His eyes were steely, glazed, betraying no emotion. I felt a pang of recognition. No man...child his age should know the pain displayed in those emotionless eyes. I'd only seen it once before. The dead eyes of a very similar young man...too similar.

"Give up." I said quietly.

He showed a small sign of shock as he registered my words. "What?" He said, slightly raising his voice.

"It's no use. I have trained in Bushido and Ninjutsu for 50 years. I have mastered the ancient ways of samurai and ninja. I fought him with everything I have and could not best him. You lust for revenge will lead to your demise." I told him the hurtful truth as well as I could put it.

I saw a quick spasm of emotion flicker over his face. "I have the power to defeat him. I nearly destroyed him before."

His words took me by surprise. No doubt he was bluffing, delusional, or simply arrogant. Then the memory flashed into my mind again. The young man that this one so reminded me of...He had nearly killed Ogre 19 years ago.

"Perhaps you are right..." I murmured.

With sound less than a whisper, Kunimitsu appeared at my side. "Sir, we are ready to take the camp."

I contemplated. "Abort Mission." I told her. "Gather the men, tell them to return everything they have taken. If I find something stolen from this camp there will be dear consequences to pay. We are leaving now."

She was visibly taken aback. "Sir, are you certain?"

"Yes. Return everything. We are leaving." Kunimitsu silently disappeared. I turned to the boy. "You've stirred memories in my heart long dormant. What is your name?"

"Vincent." He whispered, just as shocked as Kunimitsu.

"You are an honorable man. If anyone can defeat Ogre, it is someone such as you. Don't lose faith in yourself. The last time I met someone of your caliber, they lost faith." I paused. "...Although I do not know you...It would break my heart to see history repeat itself."

I had no idea where this outburst was coming from, but I didn't supress it.

"Goodbye Vincent. May fate be on your side and may our paths cross again."

I stepped out of the tent, seeing my clan standing before me. Silently, we flew from the camp.


End file.
